2020 Democratic Primary (King's World)
The 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses were be a series of electoral contests organized by the Democratic Party to select the approximately 3,768 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention, who, by pledged votes, shall elect the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The elections are scheduled to take place from February to June 2020, within all fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and Democrats Abroad. Independently of the result of primaries and caucuses, the Democratic Party will, from its group of party leaders and elected officials, also appoint 764 unpledged delegates (superdelegates) to participate in its national convention. In contrast to all previous election cycles, superdelegates will no longer have the right to cast decisive votes at the convention's first ballot for the presidential nomination (limiting their voting rights to either non-decisive votes on the first ballot or decisive votes for subsequent ballots on a contested convention). Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina The Democratic Primary had over 20 candidates at its height, making it the largest primary field ever. Over the course of the primary Biden had held the lead even before he announced he was running. But as the primary waged on Warren slowly crept up and took 2nd place from Sanders who largely held the position. As more party primary debates were held before the Iowa caucuses the main collisions were between Biden and Warren. However, Sanders resurged and knocked Warren back to a 3rd place fight with Buttigieg and focused on Biden. In Iowa Sanders clinched first place, followed by a more sizable win in New Hampshire. Pundits largely ignored the Nevada caucuses, which Biden won by a slim margin, turning their attention to South Carolina. If Sanders was to beat Biden then he would have to better among black voters and do significantly better than forecasted in the state. But on primary night Biden had beaten the rest of the field by double digits in a landslide victory which only cemented his standing among black voters and held his fortress in the South. Many Democrats expected Warren and Buttigieg to drop out since the race was now clearly between Biden and Sanders. However, both campaigns had the resources to stay in the race and stated they would see it out to the finish. Super Tuesday Super Tuesday was seen as the make it or break moment for Buttigieg, Warren, Klobuchar, Bloomberg, Steyer, and Yang was to even have a chance and stay in the race. Biden needed to do have outstanding victories in the southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia to cement his place as the front runner and future nominee. Warren would have to make sure he didn't have landslide wins and do outstanding in Colorado, her home state Massachusetts, Minnesota, her original home state Oklahoma. Sanders would also have to outdo Warren in states with progressive populations. Warren would also have to outdo Buttigieg among college-educated voters. Biden and Sanders would have to fight over voters of colors. The Results Biden won the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia by a commanding lead putting him at over 500 delegates over the rest of the field. His closest competitor was Sanders who was at around 430 delegates and Warren who was at just 320. Buttigieg who only earned 135 delegates dropped out the race after coming in only 4th place. The Rest of the Primary As the primary elections gained on it was evident that Sanders and Warren were hurting each other which allowed Biden to easily take the majority in each state. Supporters and progressive organizations pleaded with both candidates to combine on a unity ticket to help take out Biden in the primary but Sanders said that he was in it to win it and still had plenty of funding to continue. Warren was open to the suggestion but stated her status in polls meant she could still fight and win. During the course of the primary, Governors Evers, Whitmer, Wolf, Northam, Cooper, Edwards, Sisolak, and Walz; all Democratic Governors in swing states; came together in a joint statement endorsing Biden for President. The party's more moderate factions began to unite around Biden while the party's more progressive factions began to gather around Sanders. In April after the primaries in CT, DE, MD, PA, NY, and RI, Warren withdrew from the race and threw his support behind Sanders but by then it was too late. Mathematically, it was impossible for Sanders to get remotely close to Biden. The Brokered Convention Biden was only 200 and some delegates away from clinching the nomination which meant the party was headed towards a brokered convention. But in a surprising show of party unity, Sanders and Biden held a joint rally in Philadelphia where Sanders endorsed Biden for the nomination and urged all delegates and his supporters to get behind him. Sanders stated that despite this not being the result he wanted, everyone's goal needs to be focused on defeating Donald Trump and making him a one-term President. The Nomination - Delegate Count Category:Democratic Primary Category:Democratic Category:Bernie Sanders Category:Kamala Harris Category:Joe Biden Category:Elizabeth Warren Category:King's World